Ronaldo up against Messi, Salah for UEFA Champions League best forward

Portugal international footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who has joined Juventus after nine seasons at Real Madrid, is one of three nominees for best forward in the 2017/18 UEFA Champions League awards, along with Leonel Messi of Barcelona and Mohamed Salah of Liverpool.

Ronaldo holds the same player award for the 2016/17 season, after being considered the competition’s best scorer with 15 goals which made it Real Madrid’s third consecutive victory.

Real Madrid accounts for more than half of the 12 nominees for the season's UEFA Champions League positional awards, with Marcelo, Sergio Ramos and Raphaël Varane all down for best defender, Keylor Navas for best goalkeeper and Toni Kroos and Luka Modric for best midfielder, aside from Ronaldo.

Manchester City’s Kevin De Bruyne is also nomimated for best midfielder, while Alisson, who has switched from Rome to Liverpool, and Gianluigi Buffon, who has moved from Juventus for Paris Saint-Germain, are Navas’s rivals for the award for best goalie.

Among forwards, Ronaldo, Messi, and Salah are the finalists, having been voted in over Mbappé, Dzeko, Harry Kane, Roberto Firmino, Gareth Bale, Antoine Griezmann and Sadio Mané.

The award winners are to be announced during the draw for the 2018/19 UEFA Champions League group stage, which takes place in Monaco on Thursday, 30 August.